Turkish authorities have arrested a total of 15 suspected members of the Islamic State jihadist organization, amid investigations into the planning of terrorist attacks against European consulates in Istanbul, following an alert by the U.S. Embassy in Turkey over the burning of the Koran.
As reported by the Turkish agency DHA, 15 people have been arrested after the jihadist group Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) gave instructions to carry out actions against the consulates of Sweden and the Netherlands in Istanbul as well as in places of worship of Christian and Jewish citizens.
The alleged planning of these attacks follows the burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm last January.
As reported by the Turkish news agency, the authorities have been able to prove even the link of the detainees with the terrorist organization, but no concrete threats against consulates, churches or synagogues have been detected.
Last January 30, the US Embassy warned of possible attacks in retaliation for the burning of copies of the Koran in several European cities, all in connection with Ankara’s demands to allow the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. In this regard, Washington pointed out as possible targets of these attacks churches, synagogues and diplomatic legations.
Thus, earlier this week some of the European consulates in Istanbul were closed for security reasons, including those of France, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
This incident also takes place in the midst of tensions between Sweden, Finland and Turkey over NATO accession negotiations. Thus, Sweden and Finland are candidates for NATO membership, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but for this they need Turkey’s consent.
As reported by the Swedish newspaper ‘The Local’, Ankara claims that its approval is conditional on Sweden taking steps to extradite people accused of terrorism or of having participated in the 2016 coup attempt against Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In this regard, Turkey claims that the Nordic country has not done enough to crack down on Kurdish groups, considered «terrorists» by Ankara.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
